WCK Serving 40,000+ Meals Daily in Florida

 

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200,000 Meals Served One Week After Hurricane Ian Hurricane Ian—which made landfall on Florida’s southwestern coast one week ago—was one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States. WCK’s Relief Team arrived in western Florida several days ahead of the storm to be ready to distribute meals as soon as possible. Over the past week, we have delivered more than 200,000 meals to impacted communities.   HELP US CONTINUE SERVING MEALS As Ian approached the coast with near Category 5 force winds, we set up a Relief Kitchen in Tampa where we prepared 3,000 sandwiches. Ultimately, the storm shifted south, making landfall near Fort Myers Beach.  As soon as the hurricane passed through the night on Wednesday, WCK chefs got cooking. The Tampa kitchen was set up in the home of Metropolitan Ministries—a nonprofit organization that cares for people without and at risk of losing housing. On the first day we prepared pasta bolognese with fresh salad to head out with our teams as they reached affected communities.  The major storm tore through coastal communities, including both Sanibel and Pine Islands. With just one access road to each island, families were stranded when Ian took out both bridges. In the Florida heat, WCK teams knew it was critical to get water along with food to isolated communities. We landed on Sanibel Island the first day it was safe to fly and brought sandwiches to rescue teams to take to families who had stayed on the island. Following that, Chef José took fresh meals to residents on Pine Island, and we’ve returned to both locations every day since.  On our first day of cooking, WCK teams served nearly 10,000 meals as we began to map out our response effort. In addition to delivering to various community partners, we have set up several locations with food trucks serving free meals to anyone in the area in need. Families in cities including Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, and Fort Myers—many of whom are still without power and unable to cook at home—can come to these mini food truck parks to enjoy a freshly prepared lunch. A lot of our food truck partners make the long drive in from Miami every day to cook for residents in need. Fort Myers Beach took a direct hit from Hurricane Ian. Neighborhoods are now unrecognizable from what they looked like just one week ago. To support families here, WCK first brought in sandwiches, fruit, and water before returning with our WCK Relief Food Truck. Now, every day, our teams distribute meals to people who stayed through the storm and remain in the area as well as first responders.  While distributing meals in Fort Myers Beach, our team met Lou Boss and his pup, Side Car Yogi. He shared his experience through Hurricane Ian. "I was in a trailer. You know where the shrimp boats are piled up? I had to swim out for my life. It was horrible. We were holding onto the ceiling fan, treading water for hours. In a trailer! I had him up floating on a sofa cushion. I dove under the water through the back door to get to my roof. I couldn't believe what I could see—just the peaks of the roofs. Thank god, thank god it didn't rise over the peaks or I would be gone. I watched a house explode! Well, imploded from the wind. The water was at least 16 feet, at least. It turned our life upside down, I don't know what to do. I lost everything, my trailer, my car, five of my friends. They're gonna condemn everything, and I don't know where to go." WCK moved our kitchen in Tampa to a facility in Fort Myers to be able to better serve impacted communities, and we will continue to ensure people in Florida have access to fresh, nourishing meals. Between the WCK Relief Kitchen and our local restaurant and food truck partners, we’re serving more than 40,000 meals each day as we continue to adapt to any evolving needs. If you would like to volunteer to help us cook or serve meals, please sign up here.  Latest from WCK's Hurricane Fiona Response WCK’s Relief Team has served more than 500,000 meals to communities in Puerto Rico that were left without power and water when Hurricane Fiona slammed into the island. Puerto Rico’s agriculture sector is among the hardest hit—the storm came at the peak of harvest season and damaged 80% of the territory’s farmland. Many of the impacted farms had only recently recovered from Hurricane María, which hit the island five years ago.  “Despite the sadness of losing all these crops, we are energized by the work of the WCK volunteers lending a helping hand.” — Stephanie of Agroempresas las Delicias, an FPN program participant that lost its plantain crop to Hurricane Fiona. WCK is supporting local farmers by facilitating the sale of fresh produce from Food Producer Network farms to our Field Kitchen. To date, we have helped save more than 30,000 pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to waste. With agriculture struggling to cope with the devastation, WCK is also connecting farms with a network of volunteers. By helping clear roads, rebuild structures, and save crops, these volunteers are supporting farmers in their first steps toward recovery.  EXPLORE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES After tearing through the Caribbean and heading up the Atlantic, Hurricane Fiona hit the coast of Canada. Immediately after the storm, our Relief Team worked quickly to identify the hardest-hit communities that were left without power and assistance. Across shelters and community centers in Dartmouth, Antigonish, and Glace Bay, local restaurant partners helped us provide thousands of fresh meals, hot soup, and sandwiches. Outside of Nova Scotia, we worked together with a hotel in Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner for evacuees temporarily staying there. We also spread the word around town so anyone in need of a meal could stop in.  As power is gradually restored, we will wrap up our response later this week and distribute leftover produce to senior community centers. Looking toward the future, our Relief Team has built strong relationships with local organizations should WCK ever need to respond in the area again. You can stay up to date on WCK's efforts around the world by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Support our work here.  Map data as of October 1, 2022